Class Description
What if a single drawing could change the way someone sees the world? In this hands-on illustration course, you’ll discover how images can say what words can’t: transforming thoughts, opinions, and big ideas into visuals that stop people mid-scroll. You’ll get hands-on with concept development, symbolism, and visual storytelling, learning to convey mood and meaning through composition, metaphor, and style. You’ll work across Procreate on iPad, Adobe Photoshop, and traditional drawing, building a creative toolkit that’s both classic and industry-ready. Projects will challenge you to think critically and creatively, responding to topics ranging from everyday experiences to larger, wilder abstract ideas. Leave with a portfolio of work that’s completely, unapologetically yours.
Learning Objectives: in this class, students will learn about
- The language of visual storytelling: how composition, symbolism, and metaphor can carry a message without a single word;
- Concept development: how to take a thought, opinion, or abstract idea and translate it into a compelling image;
- Editorial illustration as a form: how artists use imagery to respond to real topics, spark conversation, and shift perspective;
- Their own creative voice: how to make intentional choices in style, mood, and tone that feel distinctly their own;
- The creative process: how to move confidently from brainstorm to sketch to finished, portfolio-ready illustration;
- The art of the peer critique and give peer critiques on the progress of student work;
- Opportunities and potential resources on career pathways;
- How to distribute, exhibit, and promote artwork for a variety of audiences.
Equipment
- iPad
- iPencil
- iMacs
Software
- Procreate
Deliverables: Students and Class Projects
- By the end of the course, students will walk away with a portfolio of roughly seven imaginative, thought-provoking illustrations: each one saying something clever, unexpected, and entirely without words.
